Will my SMaSH / APA become too bitter?

[Brew2Be]

Hi guys.

I am brewing my first SMaSH this coming tuesday and I have come up with a recipe. I am, however, unsure of whether it will become too bitter.

I like hoppy beers, but some of them can become to bitter for me (when that bitter taste overwhelms everything else) so I've tried to avoid making the 60 minute addition too big.

I think the O.G/IBU looks reasonable but I wanted some input from people more experience than me. Does anyone have suggestions about going with either S-04 og US-05 for this batch?


Here is my recipe:

batch stats:

size: 9 liters
est. O.G: 1.053
est. F.G: 1.011
IBU: 44.7
SRM: 4.8
O.G / IBU: 0.846

Malt and hops:

2 kg Maris Otter
8 g centennial @ 60 IBU contribution: 24.0
10 g centennial @ 10 IBU contribution: 10.9
10 g centennial @ 5 IBU contribution: 6.0
10 g centennial @ 3 IBU contribution: 3.7
10 g centennial @ 0 IBU contribution: 0.0

Yeast:

Safale S-04 or Safale US-05


60 minute mash and 60 minute boil


Thanks alot.

 

[Flipadelphia]

It'll have some lingering bitterness but 45 ibu isn't in the bitterness realm that you don't like

 

[Brew2Be]

It'll have some lingering bitterness but 45 ibu isn't in the bitterness realm that you don't like

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any suggestion as whether to go with 04 og 05?

 

[SteveLikesBeer]

It's really a matter of taste but I'd go with US-05. Its clean and will probably ferment out a bit more.

 

[BeerLoverHere]

I love US-05! I recommend using this and mashing at 152. With this yeast, the FG might finish lower than some others; it attenuates well. If you were to mash @ 148 AND use this yeast, you will get some dryness that will make your beer taste more bitter than it is. However, your 60 min addition won't give you too many "harsh" IBUs. You should be good to go. However, I would add a little more malt to get a lower more balanced O.G / IBU ratio or use a few less hops.

On another note, when I don't want a really harsh bitter, I boil my longest hop addition for only 45 minutes. Something to play around with perhaps in the future. I would make your recipe the exact same, but turn the 60min boil hop addition to 45 min. That's just me. I think your O.G / IBU ratio of 0.846 might be too high for what you want if you are worried about bitterness.

 

[Brew2Be]

It's really a matter of taste but I'd go with US-05. Its clean and will probably ferment out a bit more.

I love US-05! I recommend using this and mashing at 152. With this yeast, the FG might finish lower than some others; it attenuates well. If you were to mash @ 148 AND use this yeast, you will get some dryness that will make your beer taste more bitter than it is. However, your 60 min addition won't give you too many "harsh" IBUs. You should be good to go. However, I would add a little more malt to get a lower more balanced O.G / IBU ratio or use a few less hops.

On another note, when I don't want a really harsh bitter, I boil my longest hop addition for only 45 minutes. Something to play around with perhaps in the future. I would make your recipe the exact same, but turn the 60min boil hop addition to 45 min. That's just me. I think your O.G / IBU ratio of 0.846 might be too high for what you want if you are worried about bitterness.

I think I will go with 05 then (Never tried it before. Mostly used 04)

BeerLoverHere - I tried changing my addition to 45 min and now my IBU/O.G is 0.809. Are you thinking about a lower value? 0.700? It shouldn't be sweet either.

 

[BeerLoverHere]

The IBU will nearly be the same, just a smidge lower, but should cut down on that harsh bitterness for a softer finish...in my opinion based on my experience. You'll still get the hops you want/need, just smoother.

I've never used US-04 as I rarely brew, if ever, brew English styles.

 

[Brew2Be]

The IBU will nearly be the same, just a smidge lower, but should cut down on that harsh bitterness for a softer finish...in my opinion based on my experience. You'll still get the hops you want/need, just smoother.

I've never used US-04 as I rarely brew, if ever, brew English styles.

US-05 it is (now that I think about it, it makes sense since 05 is an american strain.

I will try a 45 min. addition since I don't like harsh bitterness in my beer.

 

[aryoung1980]

First wort hopping is good for smoothing out the harsh bitter notes. In my opinion I would take the 60 minute and 3 minute additions and add them all as a first wort hopping. I believe Brad Smith suggests moving 30% of your finishing hops to FWH if going that route.

 

[cluckk]

I use 05 with anything American (like an American Pale Ale). However, S-04 would also be a good choice. It will only give you a slightly different flavor profile.

There is some discussion on the bitterness of hops when doing First Wort Hopping. You might consider dumping some of your hops into the kettle during the lauter with the first wort. Some argue it has negligible effect, but others claim the bitterness is noticeably smoother when a part of the hops are added this way. I have a couple hoppy beers that include FWH and I like it, even if for no other reason than it seems to make the hot break more manageable--less danger of a boil over.

 

[RonPopeil]

Something I've noticed is that bitterness from bittering additions tastes different than bitterness from flavor additions. That difference is that late hop additions add no real, appreciable, bitterness to your beer. An approach I've worked out is: If you use IBU's as a bitterness measure then the only additions you should count are additions that only amount to bittering. 60-30 minute additions are all I consider for IBU's. If you want to blast a beer with 8oz of hops late then go for it. They will significantly improve your IBU count but on the tongue the effect isn't noticeable. Especially if you're used to hoppy beers.

Applying this to your setup, 50% of your overall IBU's are from a bittering addition. that leaves plenty of meat on the bone for late addition hops. I don't think you'll be overly bitter. I actually prefer my beers the way you have this setup.

 

[TheZymurgist]

First wort hopping is good for smoothing out the harsh bitter notes. In my opinion I would take the 60 minute and 3 minute additions and add them all as a first wort hopping. I believe Brad Smith suggests moving 30% of your finishing hops to FWH if going that route.

I was going to suggest First Wort Hop as well, but I've found you miss out on a lot of hop aroma by moving a later hop addition. I've had better success just moving the first addition to FWH, and keeping the rest the same.

OP, I'm right there with you. I love hoppy beers, but I don't like them to be too bitter. If I were brewing this, I would cut the first addition to 5g, and move it to FWH, rather than a 60 minute addition. Add the other 3g to flame out.

 

[Brew2Be]

Here's an update. I ended up brewing the recipe I originally posted with the 60 minute addition moved to 45 as BeerLoverHere suggested, and using Safale US-05. Here is a pic:

It's not too bitter, just perfect for me, and the head seems quite good. Very refreshing beer with citrus aroma. No hop bomb, but it wasn't intented to be that. Thanks for all the input!

 

[TheZymurgist]

That's purty.

 

[Brew2Be]

That's purty.

Thanks. I'm quite happy with how it turned out.